


Snow

by slashyrogue



Series: Shoegazerx Art Fics [1]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Huntsman Hannibal, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Prince Will, Snow White AU, Temporary Character Death, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-06-05 07:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15165845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashyrogue/pseuds/slashyrogue
Summary: The fairest of them all.Hannibal had been the Queen’s huntsman for what seemed far too long now, tracking down enemies and following orders. His own proclivities, his need for slaughter, kept him tied to her and there had never been a single target he gave much thought to executing.Until Will.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shoegazerx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoegazerx/gifts).



> Now with the art!

The fairest of them all.

Hannibal had been the Queen’s huntsman for what seemed far too long now, tracking down enemies and following orders. His own proclivities, his need for slaughter, kept him tied to her and there had never been a single target he gave much thought to executing.

Until Will.

He had been not very hard to find at all, sequestered away with a bumbling band of dwarves. The first moment Hannibal laid eyes on him Will was kneeling as he fed an abundance of animals who seemed to have taken to him.

An easy target, one shot and he would be down, the animals a perfect distraction. Hannibal knocked his arrow, staring down the line of sight and taking a deep breath as he lined up the shot.

Will smiled, petting a rabbit before feeding it breadcrumbs.

Hannibal sighed deeply before letting the arrow fly, missing him entirely and alerting Will to his presence.

The young man jumped up, startling the animals into running off and pulling a dagger out of his belt before snarling, “I know you’re there! Come out!”

He stepped forward and the dagger went flying, narrowly missing Hannibal’s arm and cutting into the silk shirt he wore. “You are full of surprises.”

Will let out a breath, backing up as he stepped forward. “You have come to kill me.”

“Yes.”

The Prince turned so quickly he barely had time to realize Will had grabbed the arrow from where it had lodged into a tree, holding it in front of him. “All I want is to be left alone. That monster…”

Hannibal smirked, “The Queen is hardly a monster.”

“She killed my father,” Will spat, taking a step towards him, “And I suspect my mother as well. She…”

Hannibal did not move, “Her insecurities over your pending birth were many, she killed two of your siblings before you. Did you know that?”

Will had tears in his eyes. “No,” he stepped forward again and this time so did Hannibal, “You are a fool to follow her, she will kill you too.”

Hannibal dropped his bow, “I follow orders well, she has no need.”

He watched the young man’s brows furrow, “You are…”

Hannibal attacked at once, the quick grab easily made, and he pulled the Prince close enough to kiss pressing the arrow to Will’s heart. “…much faster than you think I am.”

Will was trembling, Hannibal could feel just how much, and when he breathed in the Prince smelled of apples. “Your protectors will mourn you.”

A stray tear, “You are content to live your life playing the Queen’s attack dog? Ebbing out executions on innocents who….”

“No,” Hannibal whispered, “But it is a life.”

Will did not struggle, though his breath became more ragged the longer Hannibal took to finish what he had been brought here to do. He could press it into the jugular, the blood flow would be lovely and he would be able to see the light fade slower than if he stabbed into Will’s heart.

“Get on with it, Huntsman, do your duty,” Will growled.

Hannibal paused, dropping the arrow and bringing his other hand to Will’s cheek. “No. I do believe I am sick of duty.”

He stepped back and Will was barely able to stay upright, grabbing hold of the tree they had been leaning against, “The Queen can’t have it.”

Will frowned, “She cannot have what?”

“This beauty I see before me,” he smiled, backing up, “The world would be less without it.”

The Prince was confused, though the pink that tinged his cheeks made Hannibal feel warm for the first time in a long while, “You cannot stay here much longer, I suggest moving on.”

He turned, walking to pick up his fallen bow. It felt foreign in his hands now, wrong, and he realized with a laugh that it always had.

Hannibal Lecter had always been a killer of men, but he preferred to do it with his hands. He dropped the bow, heading back the way he had come, but a question gave him pause.

“Your name?”

He turned, seeing Will had picked up the arrow again.

“Hannibal.”

Will nodded, “I will remember it,” he held up the arrow, “Thank you for this.”

Hannibal smiled, “No need. I am happy to know you are protected but please do heed my warnings.”

Will said nothing more to him then, though the Huntsman could not resist looking back once more at the beauty that he would fight to keep in this world.

The fairest of them all had never been more apt a description.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Will had never been more confused. 

Hannibal had been gone nearly a fortnight but he could not get the huntsman out of his head. Imagined encounters filled his nights and hopes for the huntsman’s return took up his daily daydreams. 

The dwarves, in particular Beverly, seemed to be amused by his enthrallment. 

“Something she cannot have control over,” Beverly said, clapping him on the shoulder, “Love.”

Will was quick to assure that it was not love. He knew that this was not, nor would it ever be. 

Though mere days later, the Prince would know what it meant to have his heart broken. 

Will had been practicing with the bow, the hand-carved arrows felt so right in his hand, when the familiar voice shocked him into missing the target. 

“You’re still here, Will, I would have thought you gone.”

Will blushed, turned to get another arrow. “There has been no reason t…”

The hand on his shoulder made Will startle; he turned abruptly and fell into Hannibal’s embrace. The huntsman smirked, “The danger of the Bedelia’s army is not a reason? The woman herself?” 

Will pulled back, chilled and somewhat annoyed. “You last spoke as if you yourself did not fear her so why…”

Hannibal pulled out his dagger and to Will’s surprise, an apple. 

“I fear no one, Prince. That does not mean you should feel the same,” he cut a piece of apple and chewed it. 

Will had not had apples in ages, the orchards were too close to the castle to be safe. “You have been to the Whispering Woods.”

Hannibal smiled. “I have been many places, done many things,” he cut a piece of apple, stopped just short of eating the piece and offered it to Will. 

 

Will licked his lips and opened his mouth, and Hannibal leaned in to put it past his lips. The first crunch of his teeth made Will’s face pale as he suddenly tried to spit it out, choking down the piece in his panic. 

He stumbled and fell onto his back, and fought to breathe as he stared up at Hannibal with tear filled eyes. The huntsman’s smile was the last thing Will saw before he fell into oblivion. 

Which was how the dwarves found him. There came a startled cry, several rushing to the sound and finding Will lying on his back with the apple not far from where he’d fallen. Beverly ran to him as the arrows started fly.

One by one the others fell as Bev fought to pull the prince away and hide them both in the brush. She sobbed, clutching his body and hoped not to alert the huntsman to her presence. 

But he found her anyway, bow in hand. His smile was triumphant as he said, “I think I’ll save you to tell,” and turned, leaving her alone.

Hannibal does not know what drew him back towards the cabin that he’d expected to be long empty. 

Was it thoughts of Will, waiting and anticipating his return despite the Huntsman being so sure that he’d have packed up and gone? 

Or was it something else? 

He didn’t know, but the scream is what made him get there faster.

When he came into the yard and saw the bodies he paled. He took a deep breath and walked through. 

She was more cunning than he’d expected her to be. 

There was no mistaking the work of a bow, though his had been in the Prince’s hands for weeks now.

Now the Queen had killed in his name, made everyone here think they’d been betrayed, and Hannibal wanted nothing more than to see her suffer. 

The sniffling alerted him to a live one and he inhaled the scent of flowered blossoms along with coal dust and–Will. 

Just as Hannibal turned he was attacked knocked down with a dagger to his neck. 

The feeling of tears made him freeze, warm breath and a whispered, “We were all so foolish.”

He didn’t dispatch her as he could, easily the idea came and went. 

“I did not do this.”

A laugh. “I saw you! You…”

“The Queen is an accomplished sorceress, glamour is not above her many talents.”

He felt his attacker hesitate. Another sniffle before she said, “You gave your bow to Will,” her dagger came away and she whispered, “I’ve seen him with it.”

“Yes,” he sighed, “What has she done with him?”

The dwarf jumped off his back and he righted himself before he stood to follow when she went into the forest. Will was not far but covered in leaves and looked so pale that Hannibal felt pained to see him. 

“How long has she been gone?”

Another sniffle. “Several days,” she brushed a leaf from Will’s hair, “I didn’t want the wolves to get him so I…”

Hannibal put his hand on her shoulder, the gesture causing a shudder. “You protected him well, but it would be wiser to bury the body.”

Her sobbing started almost immediately. She threw herself onto Will’s corpse from one side while he leaned over the other to touch. 

“She will pay, I promise you.”

Her sobs subsided and she looked up to whisper, “He could not stop thinking of you when you left. It was all I could do but tease him for the hearts in his eyes.”

Hannibal swallowed, his hand brushed across the Prince’s strangely soft lips. 

“Neither could I.”

“He deserves to feel a single kiss before his passage to the afterlife, does he not?”

Hannibal smiled at her. “I am not in the habit of kissing corpses.”

The dwarf smiled, tears still streaming down her face. “Please.”

Hannibal stared at Will, the beauty of his face still had not waned and if not for his coloring The Huntsman might have thought him sleeping. 

“I am sorry for the pain you endured in this life, and pray you can inflict it on others who deserve such things in the next.”

The touch of their lips made him shiver, a desperate thought came unbidden that perhaps if he kissed well enough the Prince would wake. Hannibal’s hand came to his cheek, brushing the skin and pulling back instantly on the warmth of it. 

Will’s eyes were open, the anger there gave him pause. “I trusted you,” Will whispered, tears in his eyes. 

Beverly cried out, while she threw herself over Will and hugged him as Hannibal moved away. 

The Prince held onto her gently, his breath labored as he whispered in her ear things not for Hannibal to hear. Beverly whispered back, while she looked at Hannibal several times as Will continued to shake his head. 

“Tell him!” She cried, “About the Queen, about…”

Hannibal stood and brushed off his trousers, the warmth in him at Will’s awakening soon going cold. 

“The Prince can make his own decisions based on what he saw, but I suggest you both leave before something worse than me finds you.”

He turned and walked away, heavy with indecision. 

Hannibal was not even a yard away when he was knocked in the head by an acorn;, the distinct scent of Will and his dwarf caused him to turn. 

The Prince was still angry, he could see the hate in Will’s eyes, but he held out his hand. 

“We can take her down better together than apart.”

Hannibal took the offered hand and recalled the softness of Will’s lips against his own as he brought it to his mouth. 

There was a distinct shiver from Will as he lifted his head and smiled. 

“Lead the way.”


	3. Chapter 3

The castle took days to even see in the horizon, their long mornings and nights filled with preparation. 

Will had brought his sword and Beverly her dagger, though the two of them were ill prepared for what awaited in the Queen’s arsenal. 

She needed no weapons Hannibal knew, only her looks and sorcery, and despite his desire to see an end to things the closer they came he grew more worried. 

They could not defeat her. 

The valiant attempt, lovely idea of it, would be recorded in the books of history but even he knew the depths of her strength. 

But Will seemed to know his desire to run off without them for the Prince kept close eye every evening Hannibal even let his mind wander to abandonment. 

 

Days had passed and Will’s beauty was marred by signs of sleepless nights, though the sunken depth of his eyes did add an eerie quality to his loveliness. 

They were less than a day from her when things finally came to a head. 

Will had kept far from him the entire journey and never attempted to confront the accusation in his eyes. Hannibal saw little need to explain himself because really the truth was there if Will tried hard enough but he seemed not to care. 

Beverly stayed on the Prince’s side through it all, though she shared any mead she had with Hannibal despite Will’s glare as she did. 

“Thank you,” she said, “For bringing him back.” 

Hannibal did not reply but took the offered drink. 

There was little need to thank him for a magic he hadn’t the faintest idea the origin of, though in the depths of his mind a thought formed. 

Was it true love? 

The Queen had held his heart for so long he was unsure, the hollow ache in his chest unable to beat for anyone but her. His heart was the only payment she’d demanded from him and as he felt no need to keep the offending organ, he gave it freely. 

Now his chest ached at the sight of Will’s distance, the hatred in his eyes, and wondered if perhaps something had changed. 

He pressed his hand to the space where she’d taken it, and a distinct thump startled him. 

“Hannibal?” 

Hannibal looked across the fire at Will and Beverly. “I think my heart has grown back.” 

The alarm in Will’s eyes was genuine. 

“Grown back? You gave it to her? Is that why you--” 

Hannibal stood and walked around the fire. He dropped to one knee and opened his shirt front before he took Will’s hand. The feel of his touch on bare skin made the Huntsman shiver. 

“Do you feel it?” 

Will’s cheeks reddened. “Yes.” 

“It’s returned from the foul depths of her sorcery,” he whispered, “Because of you.” 

Will shook his head. “No, you--” 

Hannibal reached out and touched his cheek. “What does your heart tell you, Prince? Would I stick a dagger in you? Could I poison you?” 

Will’s eyes shone with tears and she shook his head. “No, you could not.” 

Hannibal smiled. “No, I could not. But I pledge to you now that I will tear the foul witch’s heart from her chest and gift it to you, if it will prove my devotion. I cannot bear the thought any longer of a life without you by my side.” 

Will leaned up and pressed their lips together softly. It was a chaste kiss, a promise, but Hannibal’s insides burned for more even as he pulled away. 

“I except your pledge,” Will whispered. 

Beverly sniffled and they both looked to see her wipe away tears. 

“The royal throne will once again be held by love,” she whispered, “I never thought I’d see such a thing in my lifetime.” 

Will looked at Hannibal again and to see trust there made his heart skip a beat. 

“It was not a proposal of marriage,” Will teased, “But...who knows what the aftermath of this fight will be.” 

Hannibal took his hand and kissed it. “We will bathe in her blood and dance upon her bones as a start. Whatever happens after will be a reward I’ll fight to stay alive for.” 

He felt an odd thrum between them and knew by Will’s look he felt it too. 

Perhaps they could destroy her. 

Together.


End file.
